Dante Explains Shit: Defund The Police

Defund the police does not mean get rid of all police. There. Now you don't need to read the rest of this.

George Floyd was killed after being accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. They knelled on his neck for almost nine minutes. Breonna Taylor was asleep in bed when police barged into her home and shot her. Atatiana Jefferson was shot through her window by police when a neighbor reported that her door was left open. Stephon Clark was shot while standing in his grandmothers yard. They said he had a gun. He was talking on the phone. Botham Jean was eating ice cream in his apartment when an off duty cop entered his home thinking it was hers and shot him. Philando Castille was shot during a traffic stop where he informed the cop he had a licensed firearm. He was immediately killed in front of his wife and 4 year old daughter. Alton Sterling was accused of selling bootleg CD's and DVD's. He was tasered and while being pinned to the ground shot six times. Freddie Gray was arrested and while in a police van suffered a severed spine. Eric Garner was accused of selling loose cigarettes and was choked to death in the street.

These are just a few of the reasons why people have been saying Black Lives Matter. There are thousands of names. I am writing this about the movement to defund the police because I have seen, read, and heard people talk about it as if that meant that there are no longer police. I am going to try and write this in the most basic of ways. Also, I have limited experience in dealing with police meaning I stay the fuck away from them because I am Black and grew up knowing that the police were dangerous.

“Fuck The Police, Right?!”

First off, you would have to be a fucking idiot to think that society could run in any capacity without law enforcement. If you think that defunding the police means that every single police officer will go away you should stop listening to your cousin Rick because he don't know what the fuck he talking about. People are insane and dangerous and they need to be removed from the streets. That is an even bigger issue when those people wear badges. I know a lot of people want the police gone in every sense of the word but that isn't happening nor should it. Police, in theory are the good guys. If there is a crime being committed they stop it. They catch the bad guys. They serve and protect.

But that isn't what we have been experiencing.

We have been seeing police beat the fuck out of citizens peacefully protesting. People have a tendency to say it is a few bad apples which sounds cute until you realize a bad apple has the legal right to be deadly. Not only that, but they have the privilege of being protected from being penalized for their crime. Or, if they are it is the lightest of sentences. You wanna get mad? Look up any of those names I mentioned above and see what happened to the police that perpetrated those crimes. I don't hate the police as much as it sounds in print. I just don't trust them. They are on my list of occupations you shouldn't date for a reason.

“So If The Police Don't Vanish What Happens?”

The money will go to more useful places. Police spend most of their job handling shit that police are not trained to handle. If someone is screaming into the sky and disturbing your sleep you should not have only two options. 1. Call the cops. 2. Try to ignore it. Money would go towards people who are trained to deal with folks who are screaming at the sky because they don't have medication, had too much medication, are high as hell, or just had one bad day too many. If the police come to deal with someone screaming they are either going to ignore that person (I live in West Hollywood and that is the routine), arrest that person for something that isn't actually a crime, or that person may end up dead. There's a few of those names I didn't mention where this was the case.

Over one billion (!!!) dollars is spent on the LAPD. The proposed budget for next year is 1.8 billion which is more than half of the city's budget. Some of that money being spent on people who are trained to handle those with drug and mental health issues would be great. Homelessness is also a huge problem here and I am not going to get into that in this blog post but police do not handle that properly. Anytime the issue is brought up money is the next thing that follows. I would like to think that if I were a cop and someone said that I didn't have to spend over 20% of the calls I answer dealing with someone asleep on the sidewalk I'd be happy about it. But money is the bottom line and the more people in cells the more money is generated and...fuck. Police are not built to handle most of the shit they are expected to do.

“What's Your Solution Then?”

Better people. Becoming a cop shouldn't be like recruiting someone for the military. When I was being recruited in high school I was told how much money I would make. It had nothing to do with serving my country as a proud American. Please. They were talking to a Black kid. They knew I wouldn't believe that for a moment. Police should be recruited the same way athletes are in school and college. You want the best, not who needs money.

People who are honorable. I know that sounds corny as hell but that would be great. Could you imagine seeing a police officer and instead of thinking they are going to fuck with you for no reason (or because you look like someone they are looking for) you wave at them and they wave back? I would like to see police who want the job to protect their community and make it a better place for those that live there and visit. Speaking of which...

Police that actually live where they police. Why are police trying to police places they don't live? That seems so ass backwards to me! What do you know about the city other than crime reports? Do you know the names of the people you are helping or are they just potential threats?

Experience. When I hear about an officer involved shooting with a cop that is 26 and has been on the force for 5 years I gasp. You don't know shit at that age. Why would we expect someone that young to be able to deescalate a situation without becoming violent?

More tattle tails. Or however you wanna put it. That blue shield shit needs to stop. If you work at a job and someone is being a shit bird you need to say something. If you work somewhere and that shit bird is hunting people like its a sport you definitely need to say something. If you can work with someone who is racist with the ability to kill legally that says as much about you as it does them.

Click here for previous Dante Explains Shit.